North Korea's new missile test changes nothing — you've actually lived under threat of nuclear attack your whole life, whether you realize it or not

North Korea sent the US a message in the early-morning hours of
July 4: We can hit you in your own home with a nuclear missile if
we want to.

But if you were born in America after 1960, then you've been
living under threat of nuclear annihilation from ballistic
missiles your whole life.

When the Soviet Union deployed the R-7A Semyorka intercontinental
ballistic missile with a nuclear warhead in 1960, it did it so it
could hit US cities and targets without deploying forces outside
its borders.

At that time, the US had nothing even remotely capable of
stopping such an attack. But the US had its own forces, and its
own nukes, and it was clear then, as it is now, that any attack
on the US mainland would be repaid in kind.

Since then, China has built a formidable fleet of ICBMs as well.
Now North Korea has ventured into that club, though in a limited
capacity.

Most Americans have now lived their entire life under constant
possibility of nuclear annihilation. North Korea's ICBM, though
destabilizing and deeply troubling, exists as a mechanism to
guarantee the stability of Kim Jong Un's regime.

If Kim ever decides to fire a nuclear missile at the US, the US
will track it, fire interceptors, and release a barrage of its
own, more reliable and powerful nuclear weapons in response most
likely before North Korea's missile even reenters the atmosphere.

North Korea's new weapons capability will most likely lead to
increased diplomatic pressure and sanctions on the country, but
don't expect a nuclear exchange. If North Korea had been intent
on nuking the US, it could have tried to hide a mobile missile
launcher on a container ship or smuggle a nuclear weapon inside
the US without having to spend years and millions of dollars
perfecting a missile.

If you live in the US, you
are protected by the most potent nuclear and conventional forces
ever assembled.Wikimedia
Commons

The US's superior firepower is the deterrent against North
Korea or any other country striking first. That reality isn't
likely to change anytime soon.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Business Insider.